The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed its decision on the BlackRock spot Ethereum ETF to March, stating the need for additional time to review the proposed rule change. This decision was made a day before the set deadline of January 25th and is the first of several possible delays within a 240-day review period.

SEC Secretary Assistant Sherry Heywood explained that the commission finds it appropriate to designate a longer period for taking action on the proposed rule change. This first deadline comes almost 45 days after Nasdaq submitted an application to create the iShares Ethereum Trust on behalf of BlackRock on December 11th.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas predicted that the final decision on all pending spot Ethereum ETFs will be made in May. The deadlines for final decisions on the VanEck and Ark 21Shares Ethereum ETF applications expire on May 23rd and 24th, respectively, while Grayscale Investments, Invesco Galaxy, and Fidelity Investments have final deadlines of June 18th, July 5th, and August 3rd.

Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart, a colleague of Balchunas, also expects "sporadic" delays with spot Ethereum ETFs over the next few months. He noted that the next important date is May 23rd.

Morgan Creek Capital CEO Mark Yusko predicts a less than 50% chance of approval for the spot Ethereum ETF, indicating that the SEC remains hostile to the cryptocurrency industry. However, SEC Commissioner Esther “Crypto Mom” Pierce assured applicants that legal proceedings would not be necessary to approve the spot Ethereum ETF.